Pokemon: Advanced Return
by Eon Enigma
Summary: After competing in the Unova league and parting way with Iris and Cilan, Ash has an odd dream and then heads to Altomare with two new friends. Altoshipping story
1. New and Old Friends

**Just so you know, Ash is 18 in this story. I don't own Pokémon. I only own my OCs and storyline.**

"Speech"

 **"Thoughts"**

 _"Telepathy"_

 **Vermilion City**

We see a cruise ship arrive, and getting off is Ash Ketchum, along with Iris, and Cilan. After saying their goodbyes, Cilan went off to do his own thing and Iris did the same. Before Ash could head back home, he suddenly felt light headed, and the last thing he saw before collapsing to the ground was a trainer and a vaguely familiar pokemon.

When Ash got back up, he was in a white abyss. He tried to shout for help, but he barely heard his voice. He then heard someone crying and asking him to come back, though Ash didn't quite know what they were talking about. Then a figure in the distance started to appear. Before he could identify the figure, he started to feel like he was being dragged backwards by something and suddenly...

Ash opened his eyes only to notice he was in the pokemon center.

"What a weird dream," Ash said, rubbing his aching head.

"So your finally awake," someone said, startling Ash.

Ash looked around the room and noticed someone about his age. He was wearing a green shirt, brown pants, and grey shoes, had dark blue eyes, and had light brown hair.

"I know what your thinking, so I'll tell you. I'm Alfred Crocker, and this is Quartz," the teen named Alfred said, pointing at a beige latias with an orange right eye, and green left, which Ash assumed was Alfred's partner pokémon.

"You do realize I can introduce my self, right?" Quartz said, catching Ash slightly off guard.

"Wait, you can tal..." Ash said, only to realize he's now being glared at by Quartz. "I mean, you can speak the same language as humans?"

"You already got your answer," Quartz said.

"Well, I'm Ash Ketchum, and this is my partner Pikachu," Ash said as Pikachu jumped on his shoulder.

"So, Ash. Me and Quartz are going to be heading to Altomare, and I somehow managed to buy 2 tickets by accident. Would you like to come with us?" Alfred said.

"Sure I will!" Ash said excitedly.

Ash, Pikachu, Alfred, and Quartz then headed to the harbor, and got on the boat to Altomare.

* * *

When the ship arrived the next morning, Ash still felt excited, possibly even more than before.

 **"I wonder how Bianca and Lorenzo are doing,"** Ash thought to himself, also wondering where to look first. **"Now that I think of it, I should check the museum first."**

After Ash told Alfred and Quartz where he was going, they decided to to all go together. When they arrived though, Alfred and Quartz decided not to go in the museum, and head past it. So Ash went into the museum alone, and looked around for a while, eventually finding a door that was ajar, and heard Lorenzo talking behind the door.

"Hey, is that you Lorenzo?" Ash asked, causing who ever was talking to stop.

A few seconds passed before the door opened all the way, and Lorenzo came out.

"Ash?" Lorenzo said out of surprise.

"Hey Lorenzo, long time no see. How have Bianca and Latias been doing lately?" Ash said while Lorenzo's shook his hand.

"Bianca been good, but I can't really say the same about Latias. She just hasn't been the same since you left," Lorenzo said.

"Oh... Well can I go see if I can cheer her up?" Ash asked, hoping Lorenzo wouldn't say no.

"Good idea! As a matter of fact, just last week, she said she wanted to travel with you, even though she also said it probably would never happen, so here's a moon ball I got from Kurt," Lorenzo said as he took said moon ball out of his pocket and placed it in Ash's hand.

"Wait, what do you mean by she told you?" Ash asked, curious about Lorenzo's answer.

"You'll find out when you see her," Lorenzo said.

"Okay..? By the way, what were you doing in that closet right now?" Ash asked.

"I was just setting up the cameras for security system for the garden," Lorenzo said as a small alert went off on his phone. "It appears that the motion sensors detected something heading into the garden. I'm going over to check it out."

"I'm going with you," Ash said, followed by Lorenzo simply nodding.

* * *

When they arrived, Lorenzo noticed that Bianca appeared to be having a picnic with someone he didn't recognize and...

 **"Wait, is that another Latias?"** Lorenzo thought to himself. Then that person he didn't recognize looked in his direction.

"Oh! Hey Ash! Over here!" the teen said, waving his left arm.

"Ash, do you know him?" Lorenzo asked.

"Well, kinda. I just met him yesterday," Ash said as he and Lorenzo walked over.

"Hey grandpa, this is Alfred, and this is Quartz," Bianca said.

"Hi there!" Alfred said.

"How's it going?" Quartz said, surprising Lorenzo.

"You can actually talk?" Lorenzo said.

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Quartz said, trying to ignore what Lorenzo just said.

"So, where's..?" Ash said, only to be interrupted by Bianca pointing, so he headed in that direction.

As Ash headed down the path, suddenly heard sniffling. When he found out where it was coming from, he found a latias that was crying, which was the same one from about 3 and a half years ago. He the stepped down, which made a twig snap, catching her attention.

 _"Just leave me..! Alone..."_ Latias said through telepathy, now noticing who she just yelled at.

"Hey Latias, are you oka-?" Ash said before getting tackled to the ground.

 _"I missed you so much Ash!"_ Latias said as she hugged Ash tightly.

"I missed you, ow, too. Latias, can you please let go? Your, crushing, me," Ash said, having trouble breathing.

 _"Oh, sorry!"_ Latias said, letting go of Ash and helping him up.

"So I heard you wanted to travel with me. Is that true?" Ash said after taking a moment to catch his breath.

Latias hovered there silently with a surprised look on her face.

"Hello? Earth to Latias?" Ash said, trying to snap the dragoness out of her trance.

 _"Yeah, it is, and I still do,"_ Latias said.

"Okay, just let me grab the moon ball... Okay, ready?" Ash said eagerly.

 _"Well, before you catch me, I want to let you know I want a nickname,"_ Latias said.

"Okay, like what?" Ash asked.

 _"How about Aurora?"_ Latias said hoping Ash like that name.

"Got it. Go, Moon ball!" Ash said throwing the moon ball at Latias. As soon as the moon ball hit the ground, she was caught.

"Alright! I caught Aurora!" Ash said excitedly, followed by Pikachu jumping up excitedly as well. Ash then went over to pick up the moon ball.

"Come on out Aurora," Ash said as he threw the moon ball in the air and out came Aurora. "So, do you want to meet some new friends of mine?"

 _"Sure!"_ Aurora said, wondering what these new friends are like, so she and Ash headed in the direction Ash had come from.

* * *

When they got back Ash introduced Aurora to Alfred and Quartz. They talked for a while on the way to a nearby hotel that allows pokemon to stay out of there pokeballs. After they got rooms, Quartz thought of something.

"Hey Alfred, weren't we going to head back to Hoenn after this?" Quartz asked, letting out a yawn afterwards.

"Yeah, but it's getting late, so well go head back starting tomorrow," Alfred said, also yawning.

So Alfred and Quartz went into the room they got, while Ash and Aurora went into the room across the hall.

Ash then took off his bag and got into the bottom bunk bed, while Aurora decided to sleep on the top bunk.

 _"Goodnight Ash,"_ Aurora said.

"Goodnight Aurora," Ash said.

 _"Love you,"_ Aurora said.

"Did you say something?" Ash said.

 _"Ummm, no w-why?"_ Aurora said nervously before tucking herself in.

"Never mind then," Ash said, sounding slightly disappointed.

 **"I guess I just imagined that. Why would I even think she would love me?"** Ash thought to himself before drifting off to sleep.


	2. Explanations and a Confession

**I don't own Pokémon. I only own my OCs and storyline, as well as my art for my other stories.**

"Speech,"

 **"Thoughts,"**

 _"Telepathy,"_

* * *

 **Altomare**

It's morning in Altomare, and Pikachu is trying to wake up Ash. He tried shouting at Ash, shoving him, and tickling him, but none of that worked, so Pikachu did what he knows best.

"Chuuuuuuuu!" Pikachu said as he used thunderbolt, shocking Ash awake. This also woke Aurora up.

 _"Ash? Are you okay?"_ Aurora asked after getting up and noticing that Ash looked like he had a bit of soot on him.

"Yeah. I think Pikachu was trying to wake me up," Ash said, feeling dazed.

"Pikachu!?" Pikachu said, seemingly angry with Ash.

"Yeah yeah, I know. I got sidetracked and didn't pay much attention to you last night. Sorry," Ash said, still feeling a bit dazed from the thunderbolt. Pikachu then crossed his arms and turned away.

"Come on Pikachu, I said I'm sorry," Ash said as he stood up. After a few moments, Pikachu then turned around showing that he was hiding a smile and hopped up onto Ash's shoulder.

 _"So Ash, what happened to your other friends?"_ Aurora asked as she and Ash headed out of the room and down the hall.

"You mean Brock and Misty? They're probably back in Kanto right now," Ash said.

Before they went out the door, Ash remembered something.

"Almost forgot to return this key. Wait outside for me, okay?" Ash said to Aurora, receiving a nod from her.

When Aurora got outside, she noticed Alfred and Quartz come out of a restaurant.

 _"Good morning Quartz, and you too Alfred,"_ Aurora said.

"Good morning Aurora, how'd you sleep last night?" Quartz asked.

 _"Pretty good. How about you guys?"_ Aurora said.

"I slept really well last night," Quartz said.

"Yeah, same here," Alfred said, nodding his head.

"Okay! I've decided I'll go back to Hoenn next!" Ash said as he walked out of the hotel unexpectedly, startling Alfred, Quartz, and Aurora.

 _"Don't startle me like that!"_ Aurora said to Ash.

"Sorry Aurora," Ash said, rubbing the back of his head.

"So Ash, you're going to Hoenn as well?" Alfred said.

"Yeah! Do you want to travel together?" Ash asked excitedly.

"Sure!" Both Quartz and Alfred said at the same time.

After getting their tickets, Ash and the gang got on the boat to Hoenn, with Ash being excited as always, until he remembered something.

"Oh crap! I don't have my Hoenn badges with me!" Ash said, realizing he has to do everything all over again.

"Well I guess you have some battles to look forward to then, Ash," Quartz said, followed by Alfred nodding.

"You're right! Look out Hoenn, here I come!" Ash said, now being excited again as the boat set sail.

* * *

Later that day on the boat, we see Ash having a battle with someone who was using an Omanyte.

"Alright Pikachu, use Iron Tail!" Ash said.

Pikachu then hit the Omanyte hard, almost knocking it out.

"Omanyte, use Ice Beam!" the opposing trainer said.

"Dodge it, then wrap it up with Quick Attack!" Ash said to Pikachu.

Omanyte then used Ice Beam, which Pikachu narrowly avoided, but before the opposing trainer could even tell Omanyte to use another attack, Pikachu knocked Omanyte onto it's side with Quick Attack, causing it to faint.

"That was a great battle," Ash said, shaking his opponent's hand.

Pikachu then started to run up to Ash when suddenly a claw grabbed him from behind.

"Alright, who did that?!" Ash asked angrily.

"Prepare for trouble," one voice said.

"And make it double," another said.

"You guys again? Can't I get a break for you, Team Rocket?" Ash said with a sigh.

"How dare you interrupt our motto!" Jessie said.

"Also we're not going to give you a break until we actually have your Pikachu," James said.

Before Meowth could get a word out, the hot air balloon blew up from a beam of light hitting it, which caused Pikachu to be let go of.

"Where did dat come from!?" Meowth said.

"Just when we thought we had Pikachu too!" Jessie said.

"Well there's always next time, or the time after that, or the time after that, or," James said, counting each time he said the same thing with his fingers.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" Jessie and Meowth said, while James was still saying the same thing as they flew into the distance.

"I'm glad you're safe Pikachu!" Ash said happily.

Before Ash could do anything else, a hydreigon swooped down from the sky and someone jumped off. It was a man dressed in what looked like a jester outfit with a chess board pattern on it. They were also wearing a mask with a similar pattern that had a red right lens, yellow left lens, and an orange smile on it that had holes in it.

The man then walked up to Ash, who was wondering what was going on.

"Are you that Pikachu's trainer?" the oddly dressed man asked.

"I am, but why are you asking that and who are you?" Ash asked in response.

"Oh yeah, that's right! I'm Arden, founder of the Pokemon Protection Agency. I was flying by on Hydreigon here when I noticed your Pikachu was in trouble, so I had Hydreigon use Flashcannon on that hot air balloon," the man named Arden said.

"Wow, thanks!" Ash said.

"No need to thank me, I'm just doing my job. Anyway, I need to get going, there's plenty of Pokemon out there that still need protection," Arden said before getting on Hydreigon and flying off.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the cabin they were staying in on the ship, Alfred and Quartz were telling Aurora what Hoenn is like. While the three of them where chatting, Quartz thought of something.

"Hey Alfred, I think we should tell Aurora about Gym battles and Gym badges, what do you think?" Quartz said, getting a confused look from Aurora.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Thanks for reminding me," Alfred said.

After who knows how long of an explanation, Alfred was about done.

"And that's how you compete in the pokemon league," Alfred said, not realizing that Aurora was having a hard time wrapping her head around the explanation.

After about a minute of silence, Quartz let out a sigh, realizing the situation.

"Way to go, Alfred, You did it again. Not only did you give an extraordinarily long explanation, but you also talked too long about the stats of the gym leaders' teams, and you made it overly complicated by talking about critical hits, type advantages, and Same Type Attack Bonuses," Quartz said, feeling a little annoying with Alfred.

"Sorry about that, I tend to get carried away with my explanations," Alfred said, rubbing the back of his head.

With another sigh, Quartz decided to explain it herself.

"In simpler terms, what Alfred was trying to say, was that you get gym badges from gym leaders by winning a battle with them, and you need 8 in total to compete in the pokemon league. If a trainer has a strong pokemon or legendary pokemon on their team, the gym leader is allowed to use their stronger teams," Quartz said.

 _"Well that makes more sense, but with all the explaining Alfred did, I got a headache from it,"_ Aurora said.

Quartz then gave Alfred an aggravated look, causing him to flinch.

"I said I'm sorry, didn't I?!" Alfred said, trying to seem calm.

Quartz then let out a simple "Hmph" before turning away.

* * *

After having a big meal, Ash and Pikachu were on their way back to their cabin.

"Piikkaaaa," Pikachu said with a sigh of relief.

"I hear you, that food was awesome. It could give Brock's cooking a run for it's money," Ash said.

After getting back to the cabin, Ash opened the door and noticed everyone was quiet.

"Um... Did I miss something or..?" Ash said, feeling confused.

Alfred was about to open his mouth, but Quartz stopped him.

"Well, let's just say that Alfred explained stuff about the pokemon league and battles so much that Aurora got a headache," Quartz said.

"I got carried away, you know I can't help it," Alfred said to Quartz.

"But you never have tried to use a short explanation," Quartz said.

As the two of them keep going, the conversation turned into an argument. While this was happening, Aurora nervously went up to Ash.

 _"Um, Ash, I've been meaning to tell you something,"_ Aurora said, having a worried look on her face.

"Sure, go ahead!" Ash said.

 _"Wellll, I ummmm... I..."_ Aurora said, almost to nervous to speak.

"Is something wrong? You can tell me," Ash said.

 _"I... love you, Ash,"_ Aurora said as calmly as possible.


	3. Arriving Back in Hoenn

"Speaking"

 **"Thoughts"**

 _"Telepathy"_

 **Back where we left off last time**

After hearing what Aurora said, the whole room fell silent. Ash couldn't believe what he just heard. Did Aurora say what Ash thinks she just said?

"You... love me?" Ash asked, checking to see if he heard correctly.

 _"Yes, I do,"_ Aurora said, feeling a little less nervous now. Before Ash could say anything, Alfred stood up from the chair he was sitting in, and headed for the door.

"Welp, I'm going to step outside to get some fresh air. In the meantime, why don't you two get everything sorted out. Want to join me, Quartz?" Alfred said.

"Sure I will, besides, I think it would make it awkward for them if I stayed here," Quartz said as she followed Alfred, closing the door behind them.

It was quiet again, and after a bit of time passed, Aurora decided to say something, seeing as Ash hadn't said anything yet. _"So... um... How do you feel about me, Ash?"_ Aurora said, blushing.

"Huh? Oh yeah, sorry, got sidetracked. Well, you are fun to be around and you do bring a smile to my face as well. Also, I do find you, quite beautiful, actually. What I'm trying to say is," Ash said before getting closer to Aurora. "I love you too."

Ash then gave Aurora a quick kiss on the lips. Aurora didn't know what to say at this point, so she started kissing Ash back. Ash then felt something tug on his pants, so the two of them stopped.

"Pika?" Pikachu said, hoping he wouldn't be forgotten.

"Don't you worry Pikachu, I won't forget about you, how could I?" Ash said, rubbing Pikachu's head.

"Anyway, we should head to bed soon, so let's tell Alfred and Quartz," Ash said before turning to face the door.

As the two of them headed out of the room, they didn't see Alfred or Quartz, so they decided to check the deck. On the way there, both Ash and Aurora where quiet, trying to come up with something to say, but they couldn't seeing as they hadn't thought of what to do after this point.

"So, what now?" Ash asked, wondering if Aurora had any ideas.

 _"Well, we could go on a date at some point seeing as that's something couples do,"_ Aurora said, hoping Ash would agree.

"Alright, sounds good. Just let me know while we're in Hoenn if you see anywhere you want to go on a date to," Ash said to Aurora with a smile on his face.

When they finally got to the deck, they noticed Alfred and Quartz with a janitor, who were looking at the stars, while Quartz was telling the janitor about the names of the constellations, and where the names originated. In the mean time, Ash walked over and tapped Alfred on the shoulder.

"Huh," Alfred said as he turned around, noticing Ash and Aurora before nudging Quartz.

"What, Alfred?, Oh, hey guys. So, how'd it go?" Quartz asked, curiously.

 _"I think it went pretty well. What do you think, Ash?"_ Aurora said.

"I don't really have any experience with this whole relationship thing, but other than that, I'd say so," Ash said before Alfred let out a long yawn. "I think we should head to our cabin and get some rest," Ash said, while everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Thanks for telling me about the stars. It was quite interesting," the janitor said.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Quartz said before she, along with Ash, Alfred and Aurora headed back to their room.

After getting back, they climbed into their beds and said goodnight to each other before they started falling asleep. Before he fell asleep though, Ash couldn't help but feel like something was about to happen out at sea.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere not too far off from the ship Ash currently is on, We see what appears to be an old battleship. Deep within the ship, we see someone guarding a metal door to a cell. As time passed by, the guard started seeming like he was waiting for someone.

"Why did I have to be the one to get stuck with guarding a cell during dinner?" The guard asked himself as his stomach growled.

The guard kept waiting, and it was feeling like it was going to be an eternity before his shift would end. He then looked up and noticed someone walking down the hall. It appeared to be the head chef, and he was carrying a tray of food.

"Finally, fooood!" The guard said, reaching for the tray before having his hand whacked down.

"Sorry, this food isn't for you, but for the prisoner instead. I'll bring you your food later," The chef said, causing the guard to slouch over. The chef then tried to open a small hatch on the door to slide in the food, but it didn't budge.

"Here, let me try," the guard said, who also failed to open the hatch.

"It must be rusted shut, luckily I have the key," the guard said, starting to unlock the door.

"Wait wait wait!" The chef said, panicking, about try and stop the guard, but the guard had already started opening the door.

No sooner than that, the flew open, knocking over the chef. The guard then decided to check on the prisoner and went in to look, but he didn't see anyone. He reached for his walkie talkie so he could report the situation, when suddenly got kicked in the side of his head by the prisoner, who was wearing a cloak. Then this cloaked prisoner was about to run for it until the alarm was triggered, so they looked around only to see that the chef had activated it, so the they ran off as fast as possible to get away before they were caught and put back in the cell.

Running in from a different direction was a green haired woman wearing a captian's hat. When she got close enough, she realized that the cell door was opened.

"Did you two really let the prisoner out?!" The woman yelled, causing the guard to panic.

"I'm sorry, Captain! We needed to give them food, but the hatch to do so was rusted shut," The guard tried to explain.

This caused the captain to face palm. "If the hatch was rusted shut, why didn't you radio in the repair crew?" she said, still clearly frustrated. **"What an idiot!"** She thought to herself as she grabbed her own walkie talkie.

"Attention everyone. The prisoner has escaped from her cell. This is not a drill. Now find her, immediately!" the captain said into the walkie talkie. Soldiers then searched left and right for the prisoner, checking any place she could possibly be.

In one of the halls they hadn't checked yet, the cloaked figure found a ladder, so they went over to it and started climbing. She was about to open a hatch that led to the deck when she realized she was locked in.

 **"Looks like I'll have to use some force,"** she thought before the hatch shot up into the air, in which they were seemingly unfazed by this. Right before she got on deck though, she felt someone grab her leg.

"I got them, Captain!" a sailor said into a walkie talkie. The Captain then ran to their location, and noticed something.

"You've got to be kidding me..." The Captain said.

"No, I'm not! I caught... a mop?" the sailor said, now confused as to what was going on. They searched the whole entire ship yet again, triple checking everything, but it was as if the prisoner completely vanished without a trace.

On a nearby beach, however, we see the very same person with a zoroark next to them. "You did a great job helping me get away, Zoroark," they said to Zoroark before returning said pokemon to a pokeball hidden under her cloak.

"Now then, I need to get the news out to everyone before it's too late," the figure said before looking around. "After I figure out where I am," she continued.

* * *

Back at the ship Ash is on, maniacal laughter could be heard coming from the hallway. This caused Ash to open his eyes, causing him to look around and listen carefully. He didn't hear it again, so he thought he imagined it and he closed his eyes again. He then got startled by a loud explosion, followed by the same laughter. Wondering what was going on, he got out of bed and ran out the door, but not before noticing no one else was in the room. When he left the room, he found a building that was in ruins, still on fire. Ash was about to go check if anyone was around, when he was suddenly pinned down by two blurred out figures. Ash then looked up and saw another blurred out person, who was holding some kind of sword. Ash tried to scream for help, but he couldn't, almost like the wind was knocked out of him. The third figure then said something that Ash could barely make out. The figure almost sounded like they were apologizing. Ash started feeling like he was about to pass out when suddenly...

Ash woke up, breathing heavily. He then looked around, only to see everyone was still in bed, sleeping. **"What was that all about?"** Ash thought to himself, starting to calm down. Aurora then woke up, stretching before getting out the bunk below Ash.

 _"Good morning, Ash. Did you sleep well?"_ Aurora said, feeling well rested.

"Not really. I had an odd dream that woke me up, but I can't remember much about it," Ash said, feeling calm now.

 _"Well if you can't remember much of it, it's probably nothing to worry about,"_ Aurora said, hoping Ash wouldn't focus on this all day.

"You're right, why should I be worried when there's plenty of battles to come?" Ash said, starting to get excited.

 _"That's the spirit, Ash!"_ Aurora said.

"Will you two keep it down? Me and Alfred are still trying to sleep," Quartz said. Before Ash and Aurora could say anything though, an intercom turned on.

"We have arrived at Littleroot Town. Enjoy your stay in Hoenn," The person on the other end said.

After getting Alfred and Quartz up, the four of them got off the ship and headed for the Oldale Town pokemon center. On the way, Aurora had noticed that some people where staring at her, which only made sense, seeing as she was a legendary pokemon. Before they left Littleroot Town, Ash wondered if he should go visit Professor Birch when he suddenly heard a cry for help. He then ran to the source of the cry for help.

 _"Wait up, Ash!"_ Aurora said, chasing after him, followed by Alfred and Quartz.

When Ash got on route 101, he saw Professor Birch being chased by a bidoof of all things.

"Alright Pikachu, I choose you!" Ash said as Pikachu jumped of his shoulder. After hearing this, the bidoof turned around and saw Pikachu, so it started to run at Pikachu as if it was going to ram into him.

"Pikachu! Use thunderbolt!" Ash said.

Right before Pikachu used thunderbolt though, the bidoof tripped over a focus sash on the ground and got it's feet tangled in it. Pikachu then used thunderbolt on bidoof, which bidoof just barely managed to take thanks to the now destroyed focus sash. Ash then threw a pokeball at bidoof, catching it only after a few wobbles.

"Alright! I caught, a bidoof!" Ash said, seemingly way too excited for just catching a bidoof.

"Thanks for helping me out there. It's been a while since I last saw you, Ash," professor Birch said, shaking Ash's hand.

"Yeah it has. I'm still trying to become a pokémon master, so I'm still traveling," Ash said rubbing the back of his head. Before Professor Birch could say anything else, he noticed a certain pokemon come out of the woods.

"Is that what I think it is?" Professor Birch asked himself, causing Ash to feel confused before turning around.

 _"Where did they go?"_ Aurora asked herself, looking around for Alfred and Quartz.

"Did that Latias just use telepathy?" Professor Birch said in surprise.

"Over here, Aurora!" Ash said, trying to get her attention.

"You know that Latias?" Professor Birch asked Ash.

"Yeah, I caught her, and she's also my, uh, girlfriend," Ash said, not used to saying the word girlfriend yet.

"Okay, that's interesting, though I wouldn't recommend telling everyone you meet about that. Sure, it's legal here and in many places around the world, but seeing as some people aren't accepting of that, it's best not to tell everyone. Who knows what those people might do to you," Professor Birch said, making sure Ash doesn't get into a bad situation.

"Good point. I'll make sure to remember that," Ash said, giving a thumbs up. Aurora then came over after she noticed Ash, seeming a bit worried.

 _"Ash, did you see Alfred and Quartz come by here? I thought I saw them head into the woods, but I haven't found them yet,"_ Aurora asked.

"No, I didn't," Ash said, now wondering where they went too.

When Ash turned back around, he noticed that Professor Birch had disappeared, only to realize he was heading off the route for more research. Ash then heard what sounded like Alfred and Quartz were screaming in pain, and it came from the woods, so he ran towards the woods, followed closely by Aurora.

 **"I really hope they're okay,"** Ash thought to himself as he and Aurora headed into the woods.


	4. A New Threat

"Speaking,"

 **"Thoughts,"**

 _"Telepathy"_

* * *

 **Somewhere off of route 101**

We see Ash and Aurora are are rushing through the woods to make sure they're new friends are okay.

"How far did they head into the woods anyway?" Ash said, starting to feel a bit tired.

 _"I don't know, but I sense Quartz nearby. She's right up ahead from what I can tell, but..."_ Aurora said before Ash started to rush forward. _"Ash, wait! I was about to tell you it might be dangerous!"_

As Ash ran got closer and closer, he started to notice he heard other people. Soon after that, a clearing came into view, and Ash noticed Alfred and Quartz on the ground, and four people in uniforms kicking them. Before Ash could help Alfred and Quartz though, the four others ran off, so Ash decided to go over and check on his friends. Before Ash could check on them though, he was suddenly pinned down by someone in a cloak.

"Ow! Get off of..!" Ash said before he felt like he couldn't breathe.

He tried to get the cloaked figure off of his back, but couldn't move at all.

Ash then noticed some bright light and then a dragon pulse landed a few feet from his face, catching the attention of the cloaked figure. Ash then barely was able to move his head and noticed Aurora, figuring it was her who used dragon pulse.

 _"Get away from my boyfriend!"_ Aurora said angrily, surprising the figure. The cloaked figure then jumped off of Ash and ran away.

 _"Ash, are you okay?"_ Aurora asked.

"Other than the fact I felt like I was being crushed from all sides until you helped me, yes I'm fine," Ash said, feeling a bit winded. "More importantly, we need to get Alfred and Quartz to a pokémon center to make sure they are okay."

 _"Right,"_ Aurora said, starting to carry Quartz, while Ash carried Alfred.

As they started to head off to the closest Pokémon center, Ash couldn't help but feel as if they were being watched.

* * *

When they reached the Oldale Town pokémon center, Ash and Aurora entered to get help.

"Nurse Joy!" Ash said, getting the nurse's attention.

"Oh my, what happened!?" Nurse Joy said in shock.

"There were four people beating up are friends here for no apparent reason," Ash said.

After hearing this, Nurse Joy and her chancey sprang into action and rushed them both to the emergency room, while Ash and Aurora stayed in the waiting room. Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes felt like they became hours. Eventually, Nurse Joy came out of the emergency room.

"Are they going to be okay?" Ash asked.

"Yes. There wasn't any major injuries, we only had to treat some cuts and bruises, so they just need some rest," Nurse Joy said, followed by Ash breathing a sigh of relief. "Now that I think of it, I never got your name."

"What do you mean? I've been here before for the pokémon league," Ash said feeling confused.

"I only started working here recently, so you must be thinking of the last Nurse Joy to work here," Nurse Joy said.

"Oh... Well I'm ash Ketchum, and this is my partner Pikachu," Ash said.

"Pika!" Pikachu said, waving hello.

 _"And I'm Aurora,"_ Aurora said.

"Well it's nice too meet you three," Nurse Joy said, getting a confused look from Ash. "Why are you looking at me like that? Is it that I wasn't surprised that Aurora could use telepathy?"

Ash nodded his head yes.

"Well, we've been getting quite a bit of telepathic pokémon in recently, so I've gotten used to it," Nurse Joy said.

"While I'm thinking of it, I want to reregister for the pokémon league, seeing as I forgot my gym badges," Ash said.

"Okay. Let me see your pokédex," Nurse joy said before Ash handed it to her. She then walked over to the counter and put the pokédex in a machine., and after a few seconds, it popped back out.

"Alright, Ash Ketchum, your all set," Nurse Joy said, giving the pokédex back to Ash. "If you want to see your friends, they're in room 29."

"Thanks," Ash said before heading down the right hall, cutting Nurse Joy off.

"Aurora. Can you let your trainer know they went down the wrong hall and go down the left one? I was going to tell him to go to room 29B," Nurse joy asked.

 _"Alright, I'll let him know. Thanks for helping us!"_ Aurora said.

"I'm just doing my job," Nurse Joy said.

It didn't take long for Aurora to find Ash, as he was halfway down the hall, ready to open a door, so Aurora went over to him.

 _"Ash, I think you have the wrong door,"_ Aurora said.

"This is room 29 though," Ash said, wondering what Aurora was talking about.

 _"Yeah, but it's room 29A, while Alfred and Quartz are in room 29B, which is in the other hall, like nurse joy was about to say before you cut her off,"_ Aurora said.

"Oh... Well let's head over there then," Ash said, feeling like he was relieved for some unknown reason.

While Ash and Aurora headed into room 29B this time, back in room 29A, a walkie talkie could be heard turning on.

"Hey, it's me. Someone said Alfred was here. Should I follow them?" An old man said into a walkie talkie.

"No. We can get him next time. Stay where you are," Someone on the other end said.

* * *

In room 29B, we see Ash and Aurora chatting with each other as they wait for Alfred and Quartz to wake up.

 _"So there were four people in uniform?"_ Aurora asked Ash.

"Yeah, and from what I could tell, there were no emblems on the uniforms either, unlike people like Team Rocket," Ash said.

 _"What about that person who attacked you?"_ Aurora asked.

"I don't know, though I've got a feeling that they were not with the other four," Ash said, scratching his head in confusion. Ash's stomach then let out a barely audible groan. **"Man, I'm starving."**

"I really could go for some jelly donuts right now, " Ash said.

 _"What?"_ Aurora said, not knowing what Ash was talking about.

"You know, those triangles made of rice with the salty filling?" Ash said, confusing Aurora even further.

 _"Ash, that sounds like a type of rice ball to me..."_ Aurora said, making a mental face palm.

"Oh. I thought they were donuts because Brock always called them that," Ash said, now feeling like Brock might have a few screws loose.

Suddenly, Ash and Aurora heard rustling coming from the other side of the room, so they looked over to the beds and noticed Quartz had woke up.

"Ow! My whole body still hurts..." Quartz said, feeling weak. Quartz then got up and tried floating to the door, only fall to the floor.

Ash and Aurora then went over to Quartz and helped her up.

"Those guys will pay for this!" Quartz said angrily.

 _"Calm down Quartz, you still need more rest,"_ said Aurora, trying to calm Quartz down.

"Yeah, you're right..." Quartz said reluctantly with a sigh.

* * *

Somewhere in Kanto, near the undisclosed location of the International Police Headquarters, We see a gold van speeding away, being chased by multiple police cruisers. Soon enough, the van is sotounded with no way to escape.

"Come out with your hands up!" An officer said into a megaphone.

The van then started to rev it's engine, and took off towards one of the cruisers, only to appear as if it jumped over it. A man then appeared on top of the roof of the van, holding a large rocket launcher, and shot something out of it.

"Voltorb, use explosion!" the man said as the voltorb went flying.

The voltorb then used said move, destroying all but one cruiser. That cruiser than took of and went back to chasing the gold van.

In the cruiser, we see Looker in the passenger seat, speaking to the driver.

"Get me closer to that van!" Looker said, the driver following his command.

Once the cruiser was close enough, Looker got out of the sun roof and shot the lock on the van's back doors. The doors then swung open, revealing a human and a darkrai tied up inside.

"What in the world?!" Looker said, only to be interrupted by the sound of something falling behind him. He turned around and saw a man standing behind him on the cruiser as well.

"Wait, you're..!" Looker said before getting kicked off of the cruiser. The man placed an odd bomb on the cruiser, then appeared back in the van and detonated the bomb, laughing maniacally as they got away.

Looker then reached for his walkie talkie, only to pass out before being able to call for back up.


End file.
